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Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Whisky Advent Day 2: Teelings Small Batch Irish Whiskey

So it's day 2 of advent and time for another unknown quantity for me. I have never actually tried an Irish whiskey... I have been most naughty for rarely venturing outside the borders of Scotland, merely for short forays into Bourbon and English drams.

Teeling produce a much more craft styled whiskey than the Haig Club from Diageo yesterday with the whiskey being bottled at 49%, having no added colour and having not undergone chill-filtration. This is all music to my ears and as added intrigue the whiskey is matured in rum barrels which is sure to added some nice flavour and depth.

On the nose there are classic rum styled sweet spices of cinnamon and nutmeg with muscovado sugar and caramel. There is a lot of orange and apple as well which are refreshing and mix nicely with vanilla, ginger and pepper. This is much more like it, the nose isn't very heavy but is certainly pleasing and gives off the air of an easily drinkable whiskey with a little depth and complexity.

On the palate the Teeling is sweet and syrupy, with candied fruits and orange, peppercorn spice, lemon and cinnamon. The finish is actually where lots of the action takes place, there is great interchange between the spice and fruit notes and the flavour lingers for a good while. This whiskey is bottled at 46% and for me is nice with just a tiny amount of water, however be careful as too much completely drown this deceptively light whiskey and you'll lose all flavour.

This is a nice change from December the offering yesterday and is a whiskey that I really enjoyed, it is light, refreshing, has decent depth and interest without being austere, difficult or overpowering.